Friday, March 13, 2009

Crimson Fist Terminators

No other unit in the game makes me think "40k Universe" like the Terminator does. The SM Terminator is barely recognizable as human…a hulking distorted figure in heavy armor and wielding the most dangerous weapons the Imperium has available. They're the best of the best in the Astrates and when used in combat they excel at a single task: Breaking the Enemy's back.

By this I mean Terminators can decimate a unit of normal troops sitting on an objective if applied right. They can break an offensive line by charging a pivotal unit. They can stall an assault "hammer" by being simply lasting longer than any other unit. In game terms, Terminators kick butt and take names.

Like any marine unit, Terminators are pretty good at doing everything…but not the best at anything (except maybe their save). They have to be supported by Space Marine forces and should never be used to advance alone. Most players will have some AP2 weaponry or their own power weapons to deal with terminators…and you don't want to give them the chance to use them! Providing a support squad of Tacticals or Bikes give you ways to deal with any anti-termie threats or bog-units like swarms. You want to make sure your Termies get where they need to be and not get stuck in the mud!

I make 40k sound like an elaborate game of Rock-Paper-Scissors…but if you look at the army lists…that's what it comes down to: Making sure your rock hits their scissors and their paper isn't around to do anything about it! Or better yet, their paper is dealing with your scissors!

I made only tiny conversions…removed the Iron Halo from the Sgt and glued some more seals and tabards to the squad to differentiate them from a basic AoBR set. All of the lettering detail was with a micron pen. One of the termies was from the White Dwarf freebie...but the targetter broke off in shipment. Rather than cry about it, I just shaved the bits off and painted it. I'm lazy that way. As I mentioned in a previous comment, I model the text as an arabic/english/chinese hybrid. I don't want any English on my models…it's a silly aesthetic choice I'm going to stick too:

I've since painted the Sgt's power sword in the same pattern as my two HQ units:

I think once I'm done with my Crimson Fist Land Raider Crusader, I'm going to get back to work on my Deathwing. I have probably 25+ termies in various states of assembly/painting - some of which date back to Rogue Trader. They've languished long enough in my closet! It's time to get to work!

@ The HammerFor the bases I used a drybrush of Adeptus Battlegrey and a minimal touch of Fortress grey for highlights. Though looking at these guys, I don't think I did the highlight! For the Termies, my formula is super simple: Mordian Blue over Black, then Ultramarine blue highlight (just 1). Wash with Badab Black, then touch up with Ultramarine drybrush again.